


Aftermath

by arnethyst



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Aftermath, Maximum Capacity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-28
Updated: 2015-02-28
Packaged: 2018-05-14 17:27:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5751868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arnethyst/pseuds/arnethyst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place after the events of "Maximum Capacity." Steven still had some bottled up anger towards Amethyst after seeing what she did in the garage that night. Amethyst's POV. My first upload to AO3.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE EPISODE “MAXIMUM CAPACITY.” THERE WILL BE MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD, AS THIS TAKES PLACE RIGHT AFTER THE EVENTS FROM THE EPISODE.
> 
> Amethyst's POV.

Opening the main door, I licked the macaroni cheese off of my fingers and walked out. Walking to the kitchen to see if there was any more cheese left, I saw Steven out of the corner of my eye.

A pang of guilt hit my stomach, and I felt my throat close up. I haven’t stopped thinking about the fight between Greg and me. I can’t stop thinking about what Steven saw me do. About what I did, period.

Steven and I haven’t spoken since it happened. Honestly, it’s been about three days. I actually haven’t really left my room since we finished cleaning up the garage. In fact, I’ve turned down the past few missions. I can’t stomach looking at Garnet and Pearl knowing what I did.

Looking at Steven now makes me want to throw up with guilt. How could I have done that to Greg? To Steven?

To Rose?

I can’t keep avoiding Steven, I tell myself. Maybe if I talk to him, he’ll be chill? Maybe he’s moved on?

_I won’t know until I try, right?_

Cautiously yet with bravado, I walked over to Steven, who was sitting on the couch reading one of Greg’s old books.

“Uh, hey Steven,” I said, leaning against the back of the couch. The awkward tension could be sensed from a mile away.

Unfortunately for me, Steven was clearly not over what had happened. His small smile instantly turned into a frown, his face scrunching a bit. Poorly disguising that he acknowledged me, he pulled his book a bit closer to his face.

I swallowed the guilt again. Do I just act like everything is normal, or do I apologize?

_Well, here goes nothing._

“Hey Steven, I—”

“Amethyst,” Steven cut me off, sternly.

There was a pause. I felt my whole body grow hot. I waited for a moment, unsure if he was going to continue or not. When I assumed the latter, I opened my mouth to speak; only to have Steven cut me off by slamming his book down on the table and whipping around to me.

“What _was_ that?” he shouted, bottom lip quivering.

Subconsciously, I raised my hands in front of me and took half a step back. As soon as I realized that they were up, I dropped my hands back to my sides.

“How could you shape shift into my mom like that? How could you treat Dad like that?”

“Steven, I–”

“No! Are you _that_ self-centered? How could you do something like that? That’s my _mom_ you were mocking–the mom I’ll never know! The woman who impacted so many people’s lives but will never be around for me! Do you think this is some kind of joke? Do you think you’re funny?”

I was utterly speechless at this point. I had absolutely no idea that Steven had it in him to talk like that. His love and protectiveness over his mom that he never even met was pretty…beautiful. Admirable, even.

At this point, Steven had tears streaming down his face. My whole face had turned a shade of lavender, and I felt my whole neck burn while I simultaneously got the chills.

He’s right. I know he is. But how do I respond to all of that?

My throat closed up, and my hands began to shake. My mind was racing. Do I apologize? Do I run? I wanted to cry and beg for his forgiveness even though I didn’t feel that I deserved it. I wanted to go back in time and stop myself from doing what I did. I wanted to run, hide, scream, cry, _anything._

But all I could do was stand there, petrified.

Steven wiped the tears off his face, turned around, and picked up his book again.

“Amethyst,” he muttered. “I want you to leave me alone for a bit.”

I finally managed to summon the energy to do something. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the right state of mind to make good decisions.

“Fine,” I uttered through clenched teeth. Holding back tears, I dashed out the front door.

Jeez, what’s wrong with me? I’m bad. I’m really, really, _really_ bad, and no one should be around me.

Boy, I really hate myself.

☆★☆

I dumped a container of fries into my mouth and tossed the paper cup into the trash bin. Missing the bin by a smidge, the cup bounced off the rim and onto the sand with three other cups. I stood up and ran across the boardwalk to Beach Citywalk Fries. Slamming my coins onto the counter, I demanded for two more large fries.

The blonde-locked kid, probably about 13 human years, stared at the coins for a moment, then looked up at me.

“Uh,” he started nervously. “Excuse me, but I just served you five orders of large fries. I really don’t think I should allow you to have any more for today.”

_“Allow me?”_ I shouted, boiling at this point. “No one tells me what I can or can’t have. I want two freaking large fries, and I’m gonna _get_ two large fries!”

“Miss, I can’t allow you to eat yourself sick!” the boy frantically replied.

I slammed my palms down onto the counter.

“Look, if you aren’t gonna give me those damn fries then I’ll just get them myself!”

I started climbing onto the counter so I could crawl through the window when a tall man who looked a lot like the boy—presumably his dad—rushed in.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he said, stepping between the boy and me. “Peedee, what’s going on here?”

“I–”

Cutting him off, I shouted, “This guy won’t give me my order!”

He turned to Peedee.

“Peedee! Why won’t you give this young lady her order?” he reprimanded. I gritted my teeth at being called a “lady.”

“Dad, you don’t understand,” he answered anxiously. “She’s already had five orders of fries in the past, like, 10 minutes!”

The father turned to me.

“Ma’am, if this is true, we certainly can’t serve you any more for at least the next few hours.”

Anger and frustration pouring out of me at this point, I yelled and bolted for the window. The man pushed me away while Peedee yelped and hid behind him.

“Miss, you need to control yourself,” he reprimanded. “You’re forbidden from coming here for the rest of the day. You need to learn to act more lady-like.”

The “lady” comments pushed me far off the edge now. I shoved my coins back into my pocket, and spoke through gritted teeth.

“I’m. Not. A. Girl!”

I slammed my fists down so hard on the counter that it split nearly in half. Running away before they could react, I gritted my teeth so hard that I could taste blood seeping into my mouth.

I ran back to the Crystal Temple, but instead of going inside, I went up the hill and over to the cliff. I collapsed into a heap against the fence and sobbed heavily into my thick arms.

I’m not as strong as I like to act, y’know?

After crying for a few minutes, I stood up and kicked a hole into the fence and sat down at the ledge of the cliff. The fence piece made a soft yet audible “thud” in the sand below.

The sun was setting at this point. I’d lost track of how long I’ve been out. Possibly a few hours?

I grabbed a stone from the grass next to me and hurled it as far as I could.

All I could think of was what Steven said to me. I _know_ I’m selfish. I _know_ Rose is…gone…and that it was pretty screwed up for me to do what I did. The second Steven and I made eye contact that night, I knew I’d made a grave mistake.

I looked down at my chest and placed a hand on my gem.

“I wish I didn’t always act on my emotions,” I whispered to myself. “I wish I didn’t hurt Steven like that.”

I dropped my hand down and ran my fingers through the grass.

“I wish it wasn’t so hard to say sorry,” I spoke to no one.

“You don’t have to.”

I instantly jumped to my feet, nearly losing balance on the cliff’s ledge. Steven was standing several feet away from me.

“Wh–when did you get here?” I asked, startled.

“When I heard the fence fall into the sand, I came outside to see what happened,” he replied as he came closer. He sat down on the grass inside the fence. “I didn’t know when I should say something, so I waited for the right moment.”

I walked a couple steps to him and sat down. The sun was just barely peaking over the horizon by now.

“Amethyst, I’m sorry for flipping out on you. I was just–”

“No, no,” I interrupted. “You don’t need to explain yourself. I get it. I _really_ hurt you. I mean…I messed up. I shouldn’t have done all that.”

I stood up and walked over to the fence. The sun was finally set, but there was still a mix of blue and purple in the night sky.

“You seeing me act out like that is almost the same as Rose seeing me like that. If Rose saw me like that…”

Feeling my eyes well up with tears, I squeezed them shut. As I placed my hand over my face, I continued speaking with a quivery voice.

“If Rose saw me like that…she’d be so hurt with me. She’d be so disappointed and angry. I mean, she may not be here anymore, but that doesn’t mean she’s really _gone._ ”

I felt Steven’s small, cold hand on my shoulder.

“Amethyst…” he spoke softly.

Sniffling, I wiped my face and looked at him.

“If Mom really _did_ see you like that, I’m…” He paused for a second, and then shot me a small smile.

“I’m sure she would’ve forgiven you.”

Tears uncontrollably flowed from my face, and I hugged Steven as tight as I could.

“Hah, easy there Amethyst,” he sputtered. “You’re kinda crushing my lungs!”

Loosening my grip and then letting go, I stepped back, blushing.

“Heh, sorry,” I muttered as I ran my fingers through my hair nervously and looked away.

Gently punching my arm, Steven answered, “I never said stop!” Following that, he jumped on my back and hugged me as tight as he could.

I don’t know if I was imagining it or not, but I swore I sensed Rose’s presence in that moment. I believe I did because, for the first time since Steven was born, I felt so much less alone.

I may miss Rose to death, but she’s not truly gone. In fact, she never will be. She’ll always be here in some way, and if Steven’s going to be the way for her to be around, then, well…

I guess I’m going to be okay.


End file.
